Means for automatically filling containers.



L. J. BRUTON. MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY FILLING CONTAINERS APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9.1915- Patented An 1, 1916.

3 SHEETS SHEET I.

" I 3 J B r U I" Q n -gn ue nIoz wihwoow L. J. BRUTON. MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY FILLING CONTAINERS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9. I915.

Patented Aug. 1, 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2- Q/Wtneoow my NORRIS PETERS .WASNING 10M. 1: c.

L. J. BRUTON.

MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY FILLING CONTAINERS. APPLICATION FILED NOV-9,1915- 1 1 92,852 Patented Aug. 1, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- we BETTIE. g 56 3R 5 jww/ntm. L- J B m m vihwooeo Aq- Z/T ia 76 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LUKE J. BRUTON, OF RACINE, WISCONSIN.

MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY FILLING CONTAINERS.

Application filed November 9, 1915.

i of Visconsin. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Automatically Filling Containers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in means for automatically filling containers and my object is to provide means for moving containers automatically below a discharge opening and removing the same therefrom when the container is filled.

A further object is to provide a tank or receptacle in which the product to be introduced into the container is placed.

A further object is to provide means for automatically opening and closing the tank or receptacle to start or stop the flow of the contents therefrom.

A further object is to provide means for intermittently moving the containers below the tank or receptacle.

A further object is to provide means for automatically starting and stopping the container moving means. And a further object to provide adjusting mechanism whereby containers of different sizes may be used.

Other objects and advantages will be hereinafter set forth and more particularly thereof as seen on line 44 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5

is an enlarged detail sectional viewof the clutch mechanism. employed for automatically starting and stopping the operation of the device. Fig. (3 is an end elevation of the gear cooperating with the clutch mechanism. Fig. 7 is an end elevation of the clutch hub. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of theclutch pin removed from the hub. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the pin. operating member, and

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 1, 1916.

Serial No. 60,532.

Fig. 10 is an elevation of the bar carrying the pin operating member.

Referring to the drawings in which similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, 1 and 2 indicate standards which are conneeted together by means of frame bars 3 and 4, said standards and frame bars when assembled together providing a suitable supporting frame for the mechanism to be here inafter described. Mounted upon the frame bars 3 is a sub-f'ame 5 to which is attached a tank or receptacle 6 in which is placed the liquid to be discharged into the containers 7, the lower end of the tank having an opening 8 therethrough to form a passage for the contents of the tank. The containers 7 are automatically and consecutively positioned below the opening 8 by means of an endless carrier 9, said carrier having cross bars 10 at suitable intervals between which the containers are positioned. The carrier 9 travels around sprockets 11, 12, 13 and 14 carried by shafts 15, 16, 17 and 18 respectively, said shafts being mounted in suitable bearings upon the standards 1 and 2.

The carrier 9 moves over a pair of tables 19 and 20, the outer ends of the tables having hinge members 21 and 22 respectively pivotally connecting the tables to the standards of the frame, while the inner ends of the tables are supported by brackets 23 and 2st respectively, said brackets also having angular guides 25 and 26 over which the endless carrier 9 travels. The brackets 23 and 2.4.- are supported by arms 27 and 28, the lower ends of which are attached to a base member 29, said base member being in turn mounted upon a. screw shaft 30 by means of which the base member may be raised or lowered, said screw shaft extending through a threaded socket31 on the frame bar 4, a handwheel 32 being attached to the lower end. of the screw shaft for the ready manipulation of the screw shaft.

Mounted upon the base 29 is a scale 33 of the balancing type, said scale comprising a beam 3% and platforms 35 and 36. the platform 35 extending below the path of the endless carrier 9 and in position to receive the container 7 as it leaves the end of the table 19, said platform being so positioned as to position the container below the opening 8 of the tank 6 for filling purposes. The

scale may be regulated. for weighing the contents of the containers of different sizes, and I have provided means in cooperation with the scale adapted to automatically start and stop the movement of the endless carrier by the tilting of the beam. To this end a gear 37 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 17 and cooperating therewith is a clutch member 38, said clutch member being in the form of a hub and having a circumferential slot 39, said clutch member being fixed with relation to the shaft 17 through the medium of a collar 46 held in fixed position on the shaft 17 by means of a spline 41, the clutch member 36 being held in fixed relation with the collar through the medium of a bolt -12, said bolt being threaded through an opening 43 in the collar and into one of the openings 44 or -L5 in the end of the clutch member 38.

Extending longitudinally through the clutch member 38 is a bore 46 in which is slidably mounted a clutch pin 47, the inner end f the pin being adapted to enter a cavity 48 in the hub of the gear 37 and interlock with the studs 49 in said cavity, and so u long as the clutch pin is in engagen'ient with one of the studs, the shaft 17 will be rotated. The clutch pin $7 is moved longitudinally of the bore 46 in one direction by introducing a spring 50 between the outer end of the clutch pin and the face of the collar 40, while the clutch pin is moved in the opposite direction, and out of the path of the studs 49 by means of a pin operating shank 51, the lower end 52 of which is curved to fit the contour of the base of the slot 39 of the clutch member 38, one edge of the shank having a bevel face 53 adapted to engage the bevel face 54L formed on the clutch pin 4L7, said clutch pin having a notch extending transversely thereof through which the operating shank 51 travels, the bevel face 54: being formed on one end wall of the notch.

The pin operating shank 51 is secured to a lifting bar 56 in any suitable manner, said bar being movably attached to a bracket 57 by introducing bolts 58 and 59 through elongated slots 60 and 61 respectively in the lifting bar 56, the ends of the bolts entering the bracket 57. The lifting bar 56 is elevated to move the pin operating shank 51 out of engagement with the clutch pin 47 by means of a latch 62 which is pivotally attached to the bracket 57 and has one end extending through an orifice 63 in the lift ing bar 56, while the opposite end thereof is engaged with a lever 64 also pivotally attached to a portion of the bracket 57. The opposite end of the lever 64 is pivotally attached to a rocking arm 65 which arm is pivotally attached to parts of the subframe 5 and has its opposite end pivotally attached to a lever 66, said lever also being pivotally attached to parts of the sub-frame 5, and it will be readily seen that when the free end of the lever 66 elevated, the arm 65 will be rocked upon its pivot which will result in lowering the outer end of the lever 64 into engagement with the latch 62 the downward movement of the end of the lever 64- moving the bar 56 upwardly and the shank 51 out of engagement with the clutch pin. The lever 66 is swung on its pivot by means of an arm 67 carried by the armature 68 of a solenoid 69, and in order to energize the solenoid to elevate the armature 68 and bring the arm 67 into engagement wit-h the free end of the lever 66, wires 7 0 and 71 are extended from the poles of the solenoids to any suitable form of battery (not shown). The wire 71, in its passage from the solenoids to the battery is intersected by a switch 7 2 to which one section of the wire 71 is attached, said switch being adapted to be moved into engagement with the contact point 73 to,

which the opposite section of the wire 7]. is attached and when the switch is moved into engagement with the contact point, the circuit through the solenoid is closed which will energize the same and move the armature 6S upwardly, this action resulting in the 'aising of the lifting bar 56 through the medium of the various levers disposed between the lifting bar and the armature. The switch 72 is controlled by an arm 74- attached to parts of the platform 35 so that when said platform descends the switch will be moved into engagement with the contact 73 or disengaged therefrom when the platform 35 assumes its normal position. As soon as the circuit has been broken by the elevation of the switch 72, the armature 68 immediately descends and releases the upward pressure on the lever 66 whereupon the lifting bar 56 is immediately lowered by means of a spring 75, one end of which is attached to the upper end of the lifting bar and the opposite end to the bolt 59, thus disposing the shank 01 into the slot 39 which will result in moving the clutch pin out of engagement with the studs of the driving gear 37 permitting said gear to run idly upon the shaft 17.

The gear 37 is rotated through the medium of a chain 76 which chain also cooperates with the gear 77 mounted upon a driving shaft 78, said driving shaft having fixed and idle belt wheels 79 and 80 mounted thereon, which belt wheels are adapted to be connected to the source of power. Instead of providing gears 37 and 77 and the chain 76 pulleys may be substituted therefor and a belt used in connection with said pulleys for driving the shaft 17. The inner end of the driving shaft 7 S has attached thereto a bevel gear 81 with which meshes a similar gear 82 mounted upon the lower end of the vertical shaft 83, the upper end of the shaft having a sprocket 84 attached thereto with which cooperates the sprocket chain 85, said chain (iii also cooperating with a sprocket 86 of a shaft 87, said shaft being disposed within the tank 6 and having blades 88 thereon to form an agitator and force feed for the contents of the tank and as the shaft 7 8 is constantly rotated, the agitator and force feed will be likewise constantly rotated.

In order to control the flow of the contents, from the tank 6, a slide 89 is provided at the lower end of the tank 0, said slide having an opening 90 therethrough which is adapted to register with the opening 8 in the lower end of the tank when the slide is moved. to a certain position, and in order to automatically register the opening 90 with the opening 8, a pitman 91 is slidably mounted upon a pin 92 carried by parts of the sub-frame 5, said pin extending through an elongated slot 93 in the pitman to permit of longitudinal movement thereof, the inner end of the pitman havin studs 94 projecting therefrom. which enter ways 95 in guide blocks 96. The extreme inner end of the pitman 91 has an integral depending finger 97 which enters an elongated slot 98 in the slide 89, said finger serving to move the slide in one direction to register the opening 90 with the opening 8 by coming in contact with one end of the slot. The pitman 91 is automaticall y moved in one direction through the me dium of a cam 99 carried by a shaft 100 and a roller 101 mounted upon the pitman 91, the shaft 100 being driven from the shaft 16 through the medium of a chain 102 engaging s n'ockets upon the ends of the shafts 10 and 100 respectively. As soon as the cam 99 is moved past the roller 101 the pitman 91 is returned to its initial position through the medium of a spring 103, one end of the spring being attached to the pin 92 while the opposite end thereof is attached to the outer end of the pitman 91, and in view of the elongated slot 98 in the slide 89, said slide will not be disturbed by the inward movement of the pitman. The slide 89 is moved to a closed position or until the opening 90 is out of registration with the opening 8 through the medium of a bell crank lever 104, one arm of which is extended through an elongated slot (not shown) in the end of the slide opposite that engaged. by the pitman, while the opposite arm thereof is attached to the end of the armature 68 so that when the armature is elevated the lever 104- will be rocked on its pivot and the slide 89 moved lengtlnvise until the opening 8 is closed thereby stopping the flow of the contents of the tank until such time as the slide is again operated to bring the openings into registration.

In operation, a plurality of containers are placed upon the table 19, one between each pair of cross bars 10 and as the carrier moves forwardly one of the containers is positioned below the opening 8 of the tank 6 and simultaneously therewith the :am 99 operates the pitman 91 to move the opening 90 of the slide 89 into registration with the opening 8, when the contents of the tank will descend into the container until. a predetermined amount has been deposited therein. The platform 85, supporting the container, will then descend and close the circuit between the solenoid and battery, whereupon the solenoid will be energized and the bar 56 moved upwardly when the clutch pin 47 will move into engagement wit-h the gear 37 and cause the shaft 17 to rotate. The raising of the armature coincident to the closing of the circuit, rocks the bell crank lever 101 on its pivot and moves the opening 90 out of registration with the opening 8, thus stopping the flow of product from the tank, this operation being coincident to the removal. of the filled container from the platform. The rotation of the shaft 1.7 moves the filled container on to the table 20 and the next succeeding container on to the platform and as the platform 35 immediately ascends upon the removal of the filled container, the circuit is again broken between the solenoid and battery, thus permitting the lifting bar 56 to again descend and disengage the clutch mechanism from the driving gear and stopping further movement of the carrier 9 when the shaft 17 makes one complete revolution. Coincident to the positioning of the empty container below the opening in the tank, the cam 99 operates the pitman 91 and again brings the opening 90 of the slide 89 into registration with the opening 8, the same operation being repeated so long as power is applied to the machine.

As it is necessary to adjust the base upon which the scale is mounted, toward or from the tank 6 to accommodate containers of various heights, the screw shaft 30 is provided and as said base also carries the bracket which supports the inner ends of the tables, and the endless carrier, at the point where it crosses the platform of the scale, said tables and carrier will be simultaneously adjusted with the scale. It is also necessary to regulate the position of the cross bars 10 with respect to the clutch mechanism and the containers in order to properly position the containers below the opening in the tank, hence the provision of the openings 44 and -15. As shown in the d rawings, the clutch mechanism and cross bars of the carrier are arranged for operating with the larger containers and should a smaller container be used the bolt 42 is disengaged from the opening 41 and the shaft 17 and collar 10 rotated forwardly until the bolt 12 is brought into registration with the opening 15, this movement advancing the position of the cross bars 10 so as to properly position the smaller containers below the opening in the tank. It will. also be understood that the number of openings in the end of the clutch member may be increased if desired so that containers of various sizes may be used. The movement of the endless carrier 9 is further controlled by the size of the sprockets around which the same travels as by using a sprocket having six teeth, the carrier will move the distance of siX inches longitudinally with each revolu tion of the shaft 17, while if an eight tooth sprocket is used the'carrier will move the distance of eight inches with each revolution of the shaft 17.

l-laving thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:-

i. In a means for automatically filling containers, the combination with a tank hav ing a discharge opening, of a slide movably mounted below said tank and having an opening therein adapted to be moved into or out of registration with the opening in the tank. electrically o nrratcd means for moving said slide to dispose the opening of the slide out of'registration with the opening in the tank. a pitman, an integral depending finger at one end of the pitman, said slide having an elongated slot through which said finger extends, means to slidably support said pitman. means to move said pitman in one direction whereby the opening in the slide will be moved into registration with the opening in the tank, and additional means to return said pitman to its initial position.

2. A means for automatically filling containers, comprising the combination of a tank having a discharge opening and a pair of tilting scales below said discharge opening. of an endless carrier having iron bars adapted to engage and remove a filled container from the scale and dispose the next succeeding container below the opening of the tank. means controlled by the downward movement of the scale to apply power to said carrier, and automatically operated means for opening and closing the discharge opening of the tank.

A means for automatically filling containers, comprising the combination with a tank having a discharge opening and tilting scales below said tank, of an endless carrier having cross bars, a power receiving shaft cooperating with said carrier, a clutch mechanism cooperating with said "shaft, and means controlled by the movement of said scales to engage or disengage the clutch mechanism and driving means for said shaft.

4-. A means for automatically filling c011- tainers, comprising the combination with a tank, having a discharge opening and a pair of scales below said opening, of an adjustable support for said scales, an endless carrier traveling above said scales, and means to apply power to said carrier whereby eontainers will be moved consecutively on to the scales to be filled from said tank.

5. A means for automatically filling containers, comprising the combination with a tank having a discharge opening therein, and means to dispose containers consecutively below said opening, of a slide below said tank having an opening therethrough. automatically operated means at one end of the slide to move the opening of the slide into registratioi'i with the opening of the tank, and electrically operated means at the opposite end of the slide for moving the opening therein out of registration with the opening in the tank.

(3. A means for automatically filling containers, comprising the combination with an endless carrier having a plurality of cross bars and a shaft adapted to impart longitudinal movement to the carrier. of a gear rotatably mounted on said shaft, a clutch mechanism fixed to said shaft, automatically operated means for connecting or disconnecting the clutch with said gear, and means for advancing or retarding the movement of the endless carrier.

7. A means for autoimitically filling containers, comprising thecombiuation with an endless carrier having cross bars and a power receiving shaft adapted to impart motion to the carrier, of a gear rotatably mounted on said shaft, a clutch mechanism having a clutch pin adapted to lock the gear in fixed relation with said shaft, automatically operated means for controlling the movement of said clutch pin, and means for advancing the position of said cross bars.

8. A means for automatically filling containers, comprising the combination with an endless carrier having cross bars. and a power receiving shaft adapted to impart motion to the carrier, of a gear rotatably mounted on said shaft, a clutch member mounted on said shaft, a clutch pin slidably mounted in said clutch member, means to move the pin into and out of engagement with said, gear, a collar fixed to said shaft, and means extended through said collar and into the clutch member adapted to advance or retard the position of said cross bars.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

, LUKE J. BRUTON.

\Vitnesses J. S. Dnonnrcn, FREDR. S. DEDERICH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by adqressing the gom nissioncr of Patents,

Washington, D. Q, i 

